


Sayoriffic

by krizzlybear



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Bandori Rarepair Week, Dueling Banjos Except Gayer, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21620566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krizzlybear/pseuds/krizzlybear
Summary: Sparks fly as Roselia and Afterglow prepare to face off for yet another thrilling joint live. Aoba Moca and Hikawa Sayo pair up to write a collaboration song together, but to Sayo's surprise, she discovers something in herself when she jams out on the guitar with Afterglow's guitarist. The "unique sound" that Sayo always wanted evolves into something deeper, and it makes her reconsider what it truly means to be a skilled musician.
Relationships: Aoba Moca/Hikawa Sayo
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	Sayoriffic

Sayo carefully went through her morning routine so she could prepare herself for the day ahead, but by the time she had come to the table for breakfast, Hina was already gone.

“Your sister said something about a Pastel*Pallettes event and she just took off.” Sayo’s mother mentioned. Her father’s face was hidden behind the morning paper from which he read, as he held a mug of coffee that said “World’s Greatest Dad” emblazoned on it. Sayo frowned, recognizing the artistry of craft and the mug’s naturally pleasing design. It was a present that Hina made for Father’s Day when they were little; or rather, part of a pair of mugs that the two of them made together at school. Due to reasons that Sayo had forgotten over time, hers was lost over time, probably accidentally broken and subsequently thrown away.

It didn’t matter, really. Sayo was resigned to the fact that both of her parents were fairly plain and average as far as people were concerned. They had their day jobs and lived a typical Japanese home life: settling into a comfy job, getting married, and raising kids together. That they had twins was a blessing to the family, and a curse to Sayo personally. In nearly every aspect of her life, she could feel Hina’s presence and influence: a reminder that she was in a place that Sayo couldn’t reach.

And yet, after a long journey of angst and regret, things were finally good between them both. Or at least, they were getting better, but the fact remained that Sayo had her work cut out for her as a guitarist. She’d practice every day, and today was no different. As she ate her full english breakfast, she mentally readied herself for the meeting she had with Roselia. She took out her phone and re-read the group text, to her parents’ chagrin.

“Sayo, you know how I feel about phones at the table.”

“Sorry.” Sayo conceded, slipping her phone back into her pocket. “I wanted to double-check where we were meeting today.”

Sayo’s mom helped herself to her seat, having finished cleaning up after cooking everyone’s breakfast. She flipped on the TV, and the empty droning of the living room was suddenly filled with the opening riff from  _ Luminous Once More _ , the most recent MV released by Hina’s band.

“Would you mind changing it to something else?” Sayo asked, as politely as she could. She could have said please, but her knee-jerk reaction to the sound of Hina’s guitar made it impossible to do so even if she had considered it more carefully.

“Oh, I’m sorry dear.” Likewise, her mother also reflexively switched to the morning news.

“You know, Sayo,” Her father pointed out, “we love you both very much.”

Sayo inwardly rolled her eyes. It was this speech again. She wanted to tell them how much progress she and her sister had made over the past year, especially since Tanabata, but it was the kind of thing that was between sisters, that  _ mom _ and  _ dad _ didn’t really need to know.

Either way, she half-listened to her parents’ speech, and hugged the two of them before hurrying on out. Hina may have left early, but Sayo promised herself she would have a more productive day.

<>

Hazawa Coffee was a warm, comfortable, familiar sight for Sayo. She had fond memories at this cafe, particularly when she participated in a cooking class with her friend, Tsugumi, from Afterglow. In Tsugumi, Sayo found a new friend who had plenty in common with her, and who opened her eyes to new experiences as well.

Sayo sat at one of the tables at the cafe, Yukina to her left, Lisa to her right, and with Ako and Rinko across from her. She was comfortable to be with Roselia, and loved how the band was always pushing her to new heights with each new adversity that came their way.

Yukina, as she started the meeting, brought up yet another new challenge.

“It has been a while since our joint live with Afterglow.” She began. “I have been in contact with Mitake-san for the past week, and we both agreed that it would be most beneficial for both of our bands to hold another.”

The rest of the band broke out into mumblings with each other. First between Ako and Rinko, and then between Sayo and Lisa.

“As you may remember, the last time we came up with this proposition, it wasn’t on the friendliest terms.” Yukina said with a tinge of regret. Friendly is hardly the word that Sayo would use. It was a misunderstanding that caused the two bands to challenge each other to see who could have the most thrilling performance. The collective refusal of both bands to back down from each other brought out their best performances, respectively. Both Afterglow and Roselia had come to acknowledge each other’s strengths as a band.

“But this time,” Yukina continued, “it is clear that Afterglow is a band that we, as Roselia, have acknowledged as a well-respected rival. There are no pretenses this time around, the goal is to once again prove that our performance trumps theirs in every conceivable way.”

Ako couldn’t control her excitement, exploding into a series of various sound effects and gestures that Sayo somehow recognized as Ako’s various spells that she used in Neo Fantasy Online. She smiled at Ako. It was one of the few outlets outside of the band that Sayo continued pursuing; at first it was a way of connecting with Ako outside of rehearsals and lives, but eventually Sayo herself found the game enjoyable and kept up with all of NFOs events and collaboration content.

But still, a new concert with Afterglow? Surely there was something else beyond the challenge of outdoing their rivals.

“Minato-san,” Sayo interjected, “might I ask when we will be holding this concert?”

“It will be in three weeks,” Yukina replied. “We will have more time to prepare for the concert this time around, but that isn’t all.”

She took out her phone. “Sayo, do you remember what Aoba-san said about making a song together?”

Sayo nodded. Yukina showed her a series of texts exchanged between herself and… Moca?

“These are lyrics,” Yukina said, “for a new song that Mitake-san proposed for the joint live. Moca wrote them by herself. They’re a little rough around the edges, but otherwise, they convey the rivalry between our bands pretty well, don’t you think?”

“If you could please.” Sayo gestured to Yukina’s phone, which she handed over.

Sayo was shocked to see her counterpart on the guitar go through such lengths to provide lyrics for a joint live. It was completely out of the blue. It was all there, spelled out neatly and organized into different sections, both set in stone but malleable and workable for further refinement. It was  _ something _ , and it was far more than Sayo could imagine herself doing at this point in her career as a guitarist.

She was furious! How could someone as laid-back like Moca do something like  _ this _ ? Sayo was immediately mad at herself for not keeping up with her rivalry with Afterglow’s guitarist, after going through that entire experience of competing. It was a thrill to her, but to see Moca progress ahead of her like that, it not only reignited that rivalry within her, but it stoked that burning flame a hundredfold. Sayo had to do something about it.

“Minato-san. Why didn’t you tell me- us...tell us about all of this sooner?”

Yukina cracked a sly grin at her. “I have to apologize again, Sayo. I felt like this was the best way to bring out your skills heading into the joint live. You wish to work on this song as well, do you not?”

As if Sayo had any other response to that.

“It is settled then. Sayo will be handling the arrangement of the new song, and will be working with Aoba-san directly going forward.”

Sayo returned the phone to Yukina, who then flipped through her contacts. Sayo’s phone buzzed immediately after a few taps on Yukina’s screen.

“I’ve forwarded you Moca’s information. I trust you will be able to come up with something that is worthy of our performance.”

Sayo nodded, much to the delight of the rest of the band.

“I believe that Hikawa-san…” Rinko added, “...she will enjoy the challenge...a great deal.”

“Well look at you, Sayo!” Lisa chimed in, giving Sayo a small hug, “I know you can do it. I’m really excited to see what you two come up with.”

Lisa pondered a bit on her last point, then turned back to Sayo.

“If you have any questions about Moca though, you can always ask me! Working with her, she can be a lot to handle sometimes.”

Sayo shook her head. She was aware that Lisa and Moca had been co-workers for a long time, but she was a bit more self-assured about her prospects with the song.

“I appreciate your concern, Imai-san,” Sayo noted, “but I think I will be fine. You may have a history with Aoba-san, but thinking back to our joint live performance, there was something I noticed about how Aoba-san conducted herself that was different from when she’s with you. It most likely has something to do with how we’re both guitarists, and as such, rivals.”

“Fufu~” Lisa giggled playfully, as she leaned closer towards Sayo. “Oh my, is there something about you and Moca that I should be aware of~?”

“I don’t know what you mean by this,” Sayo reflected, “but if anything important does come up that the band should know, I will make sure that all of you are informed right away.”

Lisa sighed, though Sayo was already running through a mental checklist in her mind about the new song. Seeing that it was Saturday, she wouldn’t be able to visit Moca at her school until Monday, which freed up the rest of the weekend to do research about songwriting and arrangement. She’d already contributed parts here and there when Roselia worked on new songs, but to do this by herself and with someone from outside the band, starting over from scratch seemed like a feasible idea. Next would be to listen to all of Afterglow’s songs. She’d picked up a few favourites, like Y.O.L.O!! and Hey-day Capriccio, but newer songs like ON YOUR MARK, which she first heard at Poppin’ Party’s concert at Galaxy live house, would need further examination. Maybe there was something about Afterglow’s writing that had changed since their showdown. Then, if there was more time left over, perhaps she could also review all of Roselia’s songs and reflect on the songwriting process for those as well.

There was a lot that needed to be done, and as the meeting drew to a conclusion, Sayo already had lined up everything in her mind for the rest of the weekend. But first thing’s first, she’d head to CiRCLE for some practice.

The girls all said their goodbyes and went their own ways, and as Sayo took the scenic route towards her favourite practice studio, one final concern ran through her head that she immediately addressed. Without hesitation, she texted her twin sister and invited her to the upcoming concert. She’d deal with the aftermath of Hina’s imminent overexcitement at home, but in the meantime, there was ample time to bust out her guitar and go over her the fundamentals.

<>

The rest of the weekend went all according to plan, much to Sayo’s satisfaction. She nailed all the drills she practiced on Saturday. She listened through Afterglow’s catalogue of songs, thanks to Tsugumi’s assistance in sending her all the tracks she was missing. She even made a playlist combining both bands’ songs, and listened through while she looked up various how-to guides on the Internet. After a good three or four playthroughs, she developed a vague idea in her head on what kind of sound could come out of a collaboration between bands.

Sayo paid special attention to both her own and Moca’s guitar-work, and the differences between them. She’d mentioned to Moca directly about how her style was very supportive, and how well she adapted to her bandmates’ play and even covered for their mistakes on occasion. She thought about her own guitar play, in which she took pride with regards to its precision and complete absence of mistakes. It led her to wonder how the two would work together in a song. Would she keep a tight rhythm while Moca dressed it up with her laid-back lead play? Or would Sayo provide a technical flair while Moca backed her up with impeccable support? The more she thought about the endless possibilities, the more she likened their collaboration to that of a couple imagining what their kid would be like.

Sayo instantly spat out her miso when the thought first came to her come Monday morning. Hina, who sat across from her while enjoying her own breakfast, burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sight.

“Onee-chan! What the heck was that!? HAHAHAHA!”

There was no way that Hina could ever know what Sayo was thinking, so she figured it be best to take the heat for what had transpired. Sayo stood up, not saying a word, and grabbed a towel from the kitchen and wiped down the table. Hina continued to laugh throughout.

“What is going on with you? You’re so weird this morning! Geez!”

It was the first time that Sayo’s face turned red in front of her sister. There was no way she could explain it away now that she had finished cleaning up the mess she made.

“D-Don’t worry about it, Hina. I was choking, that’s all!”

“If you were choking, you would have started coughing instead of spitting. Was it a joke that Lisa-chi said? Tell me!”

If Sayo could only come up with an adequately funny joke on the spot. She had an out, but to her dismay, she was the furthest thing from a comedian. And she couldn’t think of anything else other than the absurd image of a miniature Moca but with Sayo’s long, light teal hair. God, what a disaster that kid would be!

“As I said, it was nothing. Please, just drop it. We’re late for school, and it’s my fault. We should go.”

“Alright, if you say so…”

Sayo had gotten used to leaving Hina high and dry about her personal affairs, but as of late, she did a much better job of keeping her in the loop about her goings-on, and while she was happy that her sister was more than happy to accept the invitation to go to the joint live, Hina was even happier that Sayo was walking her to school this morning.

It pained Sayo that she couldn’t explain why she was being so kind, and the minor spat the two of them had during breakfast didn’t help either. So when they hurried to school, she felt it wise to let Hina do all the talking, as to not rouse further suspicion on her end.

“We made it!” Hina celebrated. “Onee-chan, I’m so happy that you were able to walk with me to school. I know you’re busy in the morning with disciplinary committee stuff, but we should do this more often!”

Sayo was glad to do it, but part of her still felt guilty for covering up her real intentions. So when she hugged her sister and saw her off, she waited by the front gate until she was sure that Hina was gone. She’d go in and find Moca, and invite her to practice later.

Sure, she had her number that Yukina gave her, but it was improper to contact someone who never directly provided her their phone number. Matters like this was best done in person, and as early as possible to allow enough time to plan ahead. Sayo wandered through the hallways, which felt emptier than she remembered; it was during their school festival that she was last here, and while she had memorized the layout perfectly, it had a completely different air about it this time around, long after the festival ended.

As to Moca’s whereabouts, Sayo’s intel came courtesy of Tsugumi and the various conversations that they had over the past year. Based on everything that she knew about her keyboardist friend and the rest of her band, Moca was either in class at her desk drawing manga, or up on the roof reading manga. Not wanting to cause a scene, she skulked up towards the roof, trying her best not to be seen by anyone.

Sayo peeked out into the open court of the roof, and as empty as it seemed, she spotted a girl sitting by the far corner reading manga. Bingo. She couldn’t make out the face, but the ivory blonde hair was a dead giveaway.

As she approached Moca, a million thoughts came to her head, particularly the weird image that caused her to spray miso all over the breakfast table. This time, without Hina around to question her, she let herself chuckle about the idea in earnest.

“Ohh~? How unusual for Sayo-san to be here of all places~. Why hello there~.”

Moca’s overly relaxed tone of voice hit Sayo’s ears from out of nowhere. It had been a while since the two girls had talked alone. Had it really been that long since they practiced together that one time after their joint live? The reality set in that Sayo and Moca ran in considerably different circles, and it saddened her a bit.

“Ah, Aoba-san. Good morning. I hope you are doing well. It’s been some time, hasn’t it?”

Moca nodded, grinning like a cheshire cat. “I haven’t forgotten about our little jam session back then~. So you’re the one I’ll be writing the song with, yes~?”

“Yes, actually. I’m surprised you were able to figure that out right away.”

“Oho~. Detective Moca strikes again~! Did you get around to reading that mystery manga that I suggested to you back then~?”

“In fact, I did.” Sayo readily conceded. “I spent a long time preparing for this collaboration, and I wanted to get into your head a bit, so I borrowed one of Hina’s manga. I told her about it a while back, and she got hooked.”

“The plot thickens~. Did you learn anything about me, my good old friend Sayo-san~?”

Sayo knew better than to get sucked into Moca’s pace. “Unfortunately, I didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know from before.”

“And that would be~?”

“That you’re more intelligent than you lead on, and that you have a refined taste for fiction.”

Moca closed her eyes and inwardly bathed in the compliments that Sayo gave her. All according to plan.

“You sure know how to charm a girl~. I should be careful of Sayo-san~, or else I might fall in love~!”

“You sound like you’ve been reading Tsugu’s romance manga.” Sayo chuckled.

“Whoa~! You got me there~. Anyways, what’s up?”

The both of them smiled. There was something calming about Moca that Sayo couldn’t quite put her finger on. Sure she was a little bit galaxy-brained, but it was a nice change of pace from the frantic mind that was her twin sister. And as much as she tried not to admit it, for the sake of not overinflating Moca’s ego, Moca herself was also a genius at guitar, by her own right. But none of that mattered for now. Only business.

“I was wondering if we could start working on the song right away. Today would be ideal, but if it’s too short notice for you-”

“For you, Sayo-san, anytime~.”

<>

_ Cry-Cry out! Cry-Cry out! _

Sayo caught herself humming as she plugged a patch cord into a nearby amp. As much as she enjoyed her practice amp at home, it was nothing compared to the booming dual-stack systems at the practice studios and live house venues. She already felt the privilege of owning her own guitar (a wildly premium one at that), and the ability to use the Marshalls at CiRCLE were nothing short of a luxury. Still, the first thing she felt in her hands was the itch to jam out to Afterglow.

A few feet away from her, Moca also hooked her guitar up and let out a few test strums as she adjusted a few of her pedal settings. Sayo watched, curious, as a guitarist is wont to do; it was only natural to want to know someone’s preferred setups. For all of her effortless talent, the agency had full control of Hina’s sound, which she didn’t seem to mind at all, so Sayo didn’t really have that much to compare with. But with Moca’s rig right in front of her, she was intrigued. For the kind of music Afterglow was making, it made sense that she’d have a distortion and chorus pedal, but the wah was an interesting addition that she didn’t pick up while listening to their tracks.

Moca, who picked up on Sayo’s peeking, smugly stomped on the wah and nailed off a quick lick that flew up and down and all the way around Sayo, flying in one ear and whizzing out the other. Sayo was floored.

“Hehe~. Didn’t expect that, didn’t you~?”

Compelled by Moca’s informal challenge, Sayo shuffled back to her own setup and cranked up the gain on her volume pedal, and proceeded to rip out a super quick arpeggio into lightning-speed taps, which trailed further down into the low notes, bent even lower with the whammy bar. Of course Moca shot back with her own shreds, speed-picking through a particular scale pattern up into the upper frets and held the bend on a sweet note.

It was a duel like Sayo had once seen on TV, but she’d never been in one before. She threw up a triplet open chord rhythm that Moca jumped in on, and the two started riffing off each other ever so naturally, and the combined sound was completely fresh. And by god, Sayo had picked up a semblance of a unique style in her play. What she had practiced tirelessly to establish a precise, error-free play had morphed wildly into a rampaging beast, aggressive but in control.

Meanwhile, Moca’s guitar had played the part of a soulful rancher reining in, countering the thrashes with sick bends and tones. It was exactly as Sayo had always thought: that Moca was the perfect support guitarist, adapting to any style, Sayo’s included.

“That was certainly something.” Sayo said as she put her guitar down after the moment had passed.

“Your guitar is so cool, Sayo-chin~! I wish I could play with you more like that~.”

Sayo-chin? Where did that come from? Sayo tried to shake off the flustered feeling that was beginning to well up inside of her.

“Anyways.” Success. “Anyways. It appears we are warmed up. I’d like to try something else.”

And so Sayo managed to reel Moca in and the two got to a little bit more practice before trying out different phrases for the lyrics that Moca wrote.

“That sounds pretty good~, but what about this~?”

Moca wasn’t so much into the technical details of musicianship, but she knew what she was playing. She was less of a teacher and more of a doer, and Sayo took it upon herself to try to understand and figure out Moca’s style as best as she could. Without even realizing, the hours had passed by and their reservation had run its course.

It was unfair, Sayo thought! They had barely scratched the surface with everything, and there was just so much more to work on, and she admonished herself a little bit for indulging in the duel and various warmups that followed, as they cut into the time that they could have spent developing the song’s arrangement.

But all of that started to matter less and less to Sayo, much to her surprise. She was having the most fun she’d ever have while playing guitar, and she wasn’t going to let all of that escape her. For once, she’d found a sound that she felt like she could call her own, even if it was a sound that couldn’t exist without Moca playing around. Maybe, just maybe, if she could finish the song on their own time, she’d be able to spend a little more time exploring the music she was able to make with this other amazing guitarist standing next to her. Being in the studio felt like such a waste otherwise. Surely they could figure something out.

“Hey Moca.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s continue jamming like this next session. We can figure out the rest of the song as we go.”

“Roger~!”

Moca’s acceptance of her proposal sent Sayo reeling. She wasn’t sure why she was so eager and ready to do so, but she didn’t care. The prospect of continuing to find that new sound of hers made her feel at ease. They had just met up on the roof of Haneoka earlier that morning, and played for what felt like an eternity.

As the two of them excitedly booked another session for the same time the next day, they had yet another eternity to look forward to.

<>

_ Cry-Cry Out! Cry-Cry Out! _

Even at home, Sayo couldn’t help but hum the melody to Moca’s song as she helped make dinner. That was the thing. To Sayo, it was very much Moca’s song, not Afterglow’s. She kept the various phrases and riffs close to her, and she was absolutely mesmerized by the sound that played out in her head. She even mentally added her own licks and flairs to fluff up the relatively emptier parts of each section. It was transforming into something that sounded nothing like Afterglow in her head. It sounded nothing like Roselia either, or even Sayo for that matter.

“Onee-chan, you’ve been singing that song all evening.”

Hina’s comment broke her out of her trance. Sayo apologized, much to Hina’s confusion. She excused herself to her room where she had to write down this phrase that was in her head quickly, lest it disappear forever and leave Sayo with nothing but unfair contempt for her sister. She never felt more alive, but at the same time she knew she was being unfair as well, so when Sayo felt like she had adequately captured the inspiration in her head, she returned to her sister and humored her as much as she could.

“Sorry Hina, I had a really good idea for a song, and I had to write it down.”

“Something’s different about you, onee-chan! I don’t know what it is. Could you tell me, please?”

Sayo thought about the incident earlier this morning, and out of guilt, she felt obliged to at least try to mend whatever weirdness was going on between them. The two of them worked hard on getting their relationship to where they were, and there was no way Sayo was going to let a few moments of unfathomable joy get in the way of that.

“Alright. But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“I’ll pinky swear, hehe!”

Hina held out her pinky, expecting her sister to respond in kind. It was an easy 5-foot putt for Sayo and her relationship. She grabbed it with her own, and they chanted like kids on the playground.

“Alright. You know how Roselia is hosting a joint live with Afterglow?”

“Yeah, of course! You invited me, and I was so happy! I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

“Right. But we’ve had a joint live before, so we’re trying to add a new twist to it.”

From there, Sayo went on to explain the collaboration song, and the session that she had with Moca later that afternoon.

“I’m sorry Hina. I should have been more honest about my intentions to walk to school with you, but I wanted to go see Moca- I mean, Aoba-san in person.”

“Oho? So we’re calling her Moca now? How interesting~.”

A couch cushion soared through the air, making direct contact with Hina’s face.

“Don’t even think about it. It’s not what you think at all. We had a great practice, that’s all.”

“It’s still not fair! I’ve always wanted to play guitar with onee-chan!” Hina tossed the cushion back at Sayo. “Why are you playing with Moca-chan instead? Meanie.”

“I already told you, Hina.” Sayo neatly placed the cushion back in its place. “It’s for the live. I promise I’ll play with you sometime, just not right now.”

It was so casual, how she’d dropped that promise on Hina like that. In spite of how casually it had been mentioned, Sayo knew that it was a very distinct possibility, granted that everything so far leading up to now had been more impactful to Sayo’s guitar than anything she could ever conceive. But for it to positively impact her relationship with her sister? To the point where she could casually make an important promise and feel like she could keep it? That was something else entirely, and it barely phased her.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you today, but I hope you’ll keep your promise!”

“I swear, Hina.”

It was enough for her sister, and they shared a hug that lasted longer than what Sayo had built up in her head. The weight of their strained history felt like it was floating away, one unfathomable ton after another.

“I should probably go and brush my teeth, get ready for bed.”

“Yeah… okay.”

<>

Sayo wound down at the end of her bedtime routine by combing her hair in front of a nearby mirror. She peered back at her unsure self, reflecting on the turbulent day that she had. Never before had she experienced the zone that she was in when she played guitar alongside Moca. Never before had she heard the sounds coming from her own guitar. All the years she spent honing in on her technique and the struggle to find her own individual sound, it had come tumbling down in a moment spent with the unknown.

Stubborn and headstrong as she was, she resolved herself to find out what all of this meant. For herself, and for Roselia as well.

<>

The following morning, Sayo made a rush to get out of the house early, hoping to avoid her sister on the way to school. All she had to do was not be seen at home; had Hina saw her in the morning, she would probably make a big deal (every morning was a big deal to Hina, to be fair). Sayo concluded she would want any of that. Fortunately, she didn’t have to go to Haneoka again, since she already had Moca’s number, and even remembered to ask for permission to call her.

_ Sure, Sayo-chin~. Anytime, your lil’ sis Moca-sensei will answer to your every need~! _

That’s what she said the day before, much to Sayo’s confusion and dismay. Moca wasn’t even related to her. She was more of a kouhai, and it didn’t make sense for a kouhai to also be a sensei at the same time. Moca was weird, that was the gist of it, at least that’s what Sayo was able to gather.

But Moca wasn’t just weird. She was mysterious and frustrating all the same.

Sayo shook off these thoughts as she arrived at her school, Hasakigawa. She put away her things and settled into her morning duties as the chair of the student disciplinary committee. She was the absolute best woman for the job, and she wore the figurative badge with pride, literal sash and all.

Other than the early riser clubs and a few student council members (which included Rinko, who she greeted warmly as always), Sayo was the first at the front gate to welcome the students as they arrived, and made sure that they were all in proper form, dress and conduct-wise.

To her surprise, one pair of early worms had arrived long before they were normally expected to.

“Toyama-san, Ichigaya-san, good morning.”

“Heya, Sayo-senpai~!” Kasumi bubbled, her arm practically latched onto Arisa’s.

“Ka! Su! Mi!” Arisa growled, shoving Kasumi’s arm off hers. “We’re at school! Get off!”

“But Arisa~~~”

“NO! I mean… hahaha~, my apologies, Sayo-senpai. We were on our way to practice.” There was no helping Arisa’s useless attempts to put on airs around anyone outside of Poppin’ Party. Her attempts to hide her relationship with Kasumi was also equally fruitless.

Sayo visibly sighed. Despite numerous lectures she’d given them over the past year, even with Arisa joining the student council herself, nobody could deny Kasumi’s attachment to her special someone, not even Arisa herself. Far be it from Sayo to flat-out forbid public displays of affection, but at the very least, she was open and accepting of high school romance between girls, especially between girls.

Heck, if the right situation came along, she wouldn’t be close-minded to an opportunity of romance herself. Growing up with Hina attached to her hip, as well as the lack of girls-love stories in media, it took awhile for Syo to notice her own romantic preferences, but once she had recognized and owned them, she made no big deal about it going forward.

What to do with these two, however?

“Toyama-san, Ichigaya-san,” Sayo frowned, “just go. You’ll never improve at your music if you keep fooling around like that.”

The both of them both apologized profusely before bolting off and disappearing into the school building.

Was that too harsh? Sayo wondered. Maybe she was overcompensating. At the very least, it was in line with her reputation as a stern disciplinarian, which she prided herself in. But it felt like a little too much, and there was a part of her that realized she was really chiding  _ herself  _ for the way she’d been conducting herself around Moca and Hina the day before. Indeed, she would have to apologize to the PoPiPa girls later for taking it a bit too far, but at the top of her mental checklist was to regain her composure heading into the afternoon’s session.

<>

“Ah, sorry Sayo-chin~. I can’t be with you today I have a shift after school~.”

So much for composure. It took Sayo every bit of her will to not sound disappointed on the phone when she called Moca while she stepped away from her morning duties.

“I’ll mis… My mistake, Moca.” Sayo bit down on her lip. “I was the one who was mistaken. I should have taken your schedule into consideration. We can go over this again later when you’re free.”

“Don’t stress about it~. It’s a short shift, so I can make it later if your free~.”

Sayo perked up. “Ah, it’s settled then. I can book a session at CiRCLE if you’d like to join when you’re done.”

“See you then~!”

Moca was so carefree in the manner in which she just hung up abruptly without saying goodbye. It was easy for Sayo to get caught in her pace, but there was a comfort zone that she had found in managing Moca’s personality. In her relief, she held onto her suddenly good mood and rode that vibe all the way through the school day. Practice couldn’t come soon enough!

<>

As Sayo performed her drills, she could feel an extra bit of energy in her body. Her picking was smoother. Her strums were stronger. Her fingers crawled up and down the frets effortlessly, more than any other time she had ever warmed up, to the point where she immediately dove right into playing LOUDER without the practice backing track.

She had no other instruments to play along with, but she imagined it all in her head. Sayo was no longer in the practice room. She was onstage, at Future World Fest, wildly rocking out. She thrashed from one end of the stage to the other, flexing her axe. She drove her own beat, filling out the rest of the instruments with her own playing. She was a one-woman band with every chord and harmonic that rung.

_ LOUDER! You’re my everything! _

Sayo felt the lyrics flow through her and she waded through the melody and painted the arena with every single note. She had never felt this way while playing before. This was the sound that she had always wanted, and she had captured it effortlessly.

_ I’m moving on with you! _

The sound filling the arena was suddenly met with another. Sayo’s guitar, gushing from every speaker, crunched hard into another force that fought back. It was strange, yet exhilarating. To Sayo, she was still at Future World Fest with her beloved Roselia, but the second front pushed back and urged her play, and each note was met with another, perfectly in sync with each other.

_ Feel alive…  _

The outro chords felt even fuller as Sayo could hear the complimentary lead phrase dance around her confident strumming. And when her performance finally came to an end… 

Sayo finally opened her eyes. She was back at the studio, and Moca was plugged in and standing right beside her.

“Sayo~, that was so cool~.”

Had it not been for the shoulder strap, Sayo’s guitar would have dropped right from her hands, as she had forgotten right at that moment that she was playing guitar in the first place. Was she really playing for so long?

“Fufu~, are you surprised that the great Moca-sensei appeared out of nowhere?”

Sayo dialed the volume knob on her guitar all the way down. “I thought you had work.”

“Lisa-san showed up and said she could cover my shift~.”

How curious. It made sense that Lisa would know when Moca had to work, since they were coworkers and all, but why cover a meaningless shift?

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Sayo-chin~. The great Moca-chan called in a favor so I could practice with you~.”

Sayo pulled up two stools from the side of the room. “Alright, I guess that means we can get to working on this song, right?”

Moca frowned. “After how awesome you were just now~? Let’s play some more~! Cryyyy~.”

Suddenly, all Sayo could picture was Kasumi and Arisa at the front gate.  _ Arisa~~~~ _ . Except it wasn’t Arisa. It was  _ Sayo~~~~ _ . Sayo’s face immediately flushed red and she turned away immediately.

“Oh?” Moca tilted her head. “Are you okay there~? You’re not sick are you~?”

Sayo shook her head. “I’m fine. I just… nevermind.”

She cranked the volume back to 10 and beat down an open chord. “Shall we?”

“I thought you’d never ask~.”

After what felt like an eternity of jamming out to Roselia songs together, and even a number of Afterglow ones, Sayo and Moca eventually got around to talking minor details about the song, but they enjoyed each other’s music too much to make any significant headway, and once again had to wrap up.

“Moca, I must ask you something.”

“Sure~. Anything.”

“I only have a half-day of school tomorrow, but we haven’t done anything for the song yet. I insist we meet up tomorrow to properly write it.”

“If you say so, Sayo-chin-sensei~!”

“Just Sayo is fine. Either way, it seems we get too carried away when we play the guitar, so I suggest we meet up outside of the studio for this. We can work out phrases later once the melody and lyrics are done.”

Moca nodded approvingly. It wasn’t like she was a dog that relentlessly followed Sayo around. She wasn’t Hina. She was a different pace altogether, yet still finely in tune with everything Sayo did. It stirred a feeling deep in Sayo’s chest that she could only calmly breathe through as she worked out the logistics with her counterpart.

They cleaned up the studio and headed back into the CiRCLE lobby. Sayo pulled out her phone and popped in a few messages.

“There. I texted you the meeting place. Can I expect you to be there tomorrow at the time and place I indicated?”

1:30 PM. Yamabuki Bakery.

“Ohoho~. You sly woman~. Did you even have to ask?”

<>

Sayo made sure to bring as much money as she could. When it came to matters of Moca, she learned almost everything from Lisa. After all the time they spent together as bandmates in Roselia, she had managed to learn as much as she could about her bassist, and that included all of her interests and hobbies. When they baked together, they had ample time to talk about everything and everyone, including a particular coworker that Lisa spoke of rather often.

It wasn’t much, but any person remotely close to Moca, even secondhand, would know of her obsession with bread. It was a complete mystery how she could keep the figure she had after eating the amount of bread she did. No matter, bread was bread, and this was the easiest way to get Moca to go along with almost anything.

Still, having arrived earlier than scheduled, Sayo gave herself ample time to wander around Yamabuki Bakery to check out the different items available. It was like sneaking behind enemy lines and doing reconnaissance. Like before, it was a thrill for Sayo to learn about her rival and to formulate strategies to defeat her at the upcoming live. But this time around, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Welcome!” Saya greeted. “ Oh, hello Sayo-senpai! Is there anything I can help you with?”

Sayo expected that she would run into PoPiPa’s drummer, but the problem was that she had not interacted much with her outside of the full group dynamic, and didn’t learn much about her from anyone else. Outside of sharing a similar name but spelled with a different syllable, Sayo did not know much at all about Saya, and in the spirit of reconnaissance, wasn’t even sure if she was close to Moca at all outside of basic patronage.

“Good afternoon, Yamabuki-san. I take it you’re working right now?”

Saya giggled. “Of course. I like to help out whenever I can. And since we had a half-day from school, I volunteered to help out.”

“Good for you, Yamabuki-san.” Sayo nodded respectfully. “In any case, I’m just browsing for now until Aoba-san arrives.”

“Oh? I never would have expected the two of you to meet up together.”

Sayo explained everything about the upcoming live, including the collaboration song that they planned on working on today. She left out the parts about the jam sessions, though.

“Ah, so you’re just picking up supplies then?” Saya chuckled. “If it’s Moca we’re talking about, then you probably want a little bit of everything. Let me go get  _ the usual _ .”

Saya headed off to a room in the back, leaving Sayo to examine the rack of sourdoughs. It never even occurred to her that sourdough in itself had different types. Sourdough was its own type, surely.

Moving on to the croissants and baguettes section (at this point, Sayo recognized how all of the bread on sale were organized by region and then by makeup), she didn’t have to wait too long until Saya returned to the register.

“I was able to scrounge up a bunch of different types, all fresh from the oven.” Saya put aside two sealed paper bags. “For Moca, she doesn’t have a preference like Rimi does, but she really likes it when it’s warm.”

Given the size of both bags, Sayo was vindicated on her decision to bring extra money. She reached out for the wallet as she approached the register.

“Don’t worry about it this time. My dad says it’s on the house, since she’s our best customer!”

For once, Sayo was actually a little intimidated by Moca. She must have been an incredible patron for the bakery, given how much service that she was given today, and probably all of the other times that she probably visited. Either way, she bowed respectfully and took the bags.

“Have a nice day, Sayo-senpai!”

It was less the free food, and more the outstanding service that stood out to Sayo, such that it painted a much more responsible image in her head regarding Saya. They hardly talked, but the exchange they just had together made her want to be friends.

As she reached the front door to the bakery, Sayo checked her watch. 1:29PM, like clockwork. Sayo’s planning was impeccable as always, and she stood outside with bags cradled in each arm and a satisfied look on her face.

“This should do well enough.” Sayo said to herself, as she waited and looked around the shopping district. The half-day was for both middle school and high school students, so the foot traffic was a little bit heavier for this time in the day, but after a few scans, she was able to pick out Moca making her way towards her, also holding a small plastic bag.

Sayo ran out to meet her halfway, or at least, she moved as fast as she could muster with her hands full.

“Good to see you again, Moca.” She said, smiling from behind a pair of paper bags.

Moca’s eyes suddenly fluttered with a  _ come hither _ look that could only be directed towards her favourite breads. Instinctively, she relieved Sayo of her bag-holding duties and dug into one of them. Sayo understood well, since it was the same kind of feeling she’d get whenever she ordered french fries. But now that she had thought about it, the thought just wouldn’t leave her, no matter how hard she tried.

“A change of plans, Moca. Let’s head to that fast food place across town.”

Moca, nodded, already chomping down on a coconut loaf.

Sayo, now holding one unopened Yamabuki Bakery bag, inspected the contents of what Moca brought. She could smell the fried oily scents waft up as soon as she opened up, and once again her instincts assumed french fries.

“Those?” Moca said. “Those were from Hagumi. I didn’t know you liked croquettes~.”

The contents threw Sayo off as they started making their way down the street to the closest light rail station. Moca was right that Sayo had a weakness for food as well, but she wasn’t sure if she was willing to admit it straight up.

“Actually, I find them quite delicious.”

“Score one for Detective Moca-sensei~.”

Moca scarfed down another helping of some bread or other. Sayo was content to let her bask in her incorrect assumption. Even outside of a studio, she enjoyed Moca’s company, and didn’t want to correct her. They made small talk as they waited for the tram to arrive, and when they hopped on, the two of them were happy to sit down beside each other and continue to exchange pleasantries, namely manga that Moca had been reading recently.

By the time they arrived at the fast food restaurant, Sayo’s hunger was too strong to sate. Even though she had helped herself to the other bag (with Moca’s expressed permission, of course), it just didn’t hit the spot. As the two lined up to take their respective orders, they ran into Kanon, who was manning the register.

“Oh, Sayo-chan,” Kanon said. “Good timing. We have a promotion for a free upsize from medium to large fries. Are you interested?”

“Yes,” Sayo said as bluntly and straightforwardly as she could. She could smell the fryers in the background, and it was as much as she could do to not devolve into a complete animal. She thought back to the look that Moca gave to the bread that she bought, and chided herself for not being as open about her own love for fries. But as soon as the two of them received their orders, she hurriedly led Moca to a table.

“Oho~, maybe I was wrong about the croquettes~!”

At this point it was pretty clear to the two of them that Moca’s initial assumption was wrong. On Sayo’s side, two helpings of large fries to go were ordered alongside the basic hamburger set.

Sayo slid her tray towards the middle of the table, dumping both containers together into a heaping greasy pile. “You can have some,” she said. “I was buying with the both of us in mind.”

Even more obvious now was that Sayo absolutely bought both for herself, but Moca said nothing of it, other than her usual Moca-like grin.

“You know what~?” She said.

“What?” Sayo asked.

“You’re pretty  _ Sayoriffic _ , if you ask me~.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

“Well~, it’s like being Tsuguriffic, except it’s with Sayo-san~.”

“Moca, you’re going to have to explain both.”

In the easygoing back and forth that had become the familiar norm, Moca went on to recall Tsugumi’s past tendencies with the band, which was unsurprising to Sayo, considering her experiences hanging out with her. In Tsugumi, she knew a kindred spirit in that she tried hard, perhaps too hard, in order to keep up with everyone else. She too understood those pangs of inferiority that sometimes drove her to impulsive, sometimes harmful action.

“But you’re a little different, Sayo-san~. Do you know why?”

Sayo leaned forward, intense. “Please tell me.”

“I think it’s because you’re a senpai~, but you’re more confident and sure of yourself~. I think it’s great, because you’re good at everything~!”

“Not everything,” Sayo frowned. “There’s still a lot I need to work on. Especially if I want to be as good as Hina.”

“Oh?” Moca prodded. “I think you’re better than Hina-san, actually~.”

“Haha, what?” Sayo let her guard down. A bit, at least. “Now that is absurd. You’re saying things, Aoba-san.”

“Aww, Aoba-san? I thought you loved me~.” Moca sighed. “Hina-san is amazing, of course. Even I think so~. She can do anything~! But she’ll never try as hard as Sayo-chin.”

There was a weird turn in Moca’s tone that Sayo didn’t realize existed or was even possible.

“She’ll never love the guitar as much as Sayo-chin. That’s what I think, anyway~.”

It was from these words that Sayo was convinced. Maybe not entirely, but there was a spark that ignited inside her that set off a cascade of emotions, years of feeling less than worthy, feelings of inadequacy. All of them were washed away, at least just for a moment.

And in their absence was Moca Aoba, this weird, amazing girl that Sayo was now in love with.

Sayo sighed, looking back at her. “I guess you have a point. I do love playing the guitar. And I do want to be the best. But you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Fufu, you don’t pull any punches, Sayo-chin.” Moca smirked. “I don’t love the guitar as much as you, but I  _ am _ a genius, and I do like the guitar a lot~.”

She ate a fry. Then Sayo ate a french fry. And the two of them just paused for a moment.

“I learned how to play the guitar because I wanted to be with my friends in Afterglow~.” Moca continued, holding a stray fry in the middle of the air without eating it. “You could say if I had to pick which one I love more, I love Afterglow more.”

“I could say the same thing about Hina. I love her dearly, as well.”

“I think they’re related~. You love the guitar because you love Hina~, and the closer you get with her the more you want to play the guitar, right~?”

Sayo couldn’t believe just how much she felt understood, and how much she had found someone so much like her.

“I could say the same thing about you.” She said. “The reason why you’re able to play such a strong supportive style of guitar is because of the people you play with. You’ve clearly had a long history with them, so it makes sense that you’re in tune with their strengths and weaknesses.”

“I’m good at supporting you too, hehe~.”

“Then that must mean you love me just as much then, huh?”

“Very much, Sayo-chin~!”

What did that mean? Sayo thought she could joke around with Moca, but she was suddenly confused, and scared. For all of her ability to shrug off Moca and her sayings, what did she mean exactly by love in that case? Did she love her as a friend like she loved the rest of Afterglow, or was it something else? The more she thought about it, the more uncertain she grew.

“You know, we’re supposed to be rivals.”

“Of course we are. I’m a better rival than Hina ever could~. You’re already better than Hina, which means that I have to be better than you too~.”

A french fry slipped from Moca’s fingers, falling onto the bare table in front of her instead of the tray in the middle.

Sayo swiped the fry immediately. “Gosh, don’t waste food, Moca.”

The love of her life smiled. “Yay, you called me Moca again~.”

<>

As it turned out, to the surprise of neither, the two of them didn’t get any writing done at the restaurant, and that both Moca and Sayo had to buckle down properly. But the warm moment was just too good to let go, and when they finished their burger combos, they wandered over to the mall, together. Maybe the sight of different stores and clothes could give them ideas. Maybe that was the excuse they gave. Even when they decided to watch a movie together, Sayo inwardly and haphazardly justified it as research for the song she wanted to write.

It was all Moca’s suggestion anyways. The movie itself was apparently an adaptation of a manga she’d read. It was full of twists and turns, and most importantly a very hot-blooded rivalry between the protagonist and the villain, who Moca teased afterwards, was quite  _ Sayoriffic _ .

Whatever that meant. All that mattered to Sayo was that she was spending the day with Moca, and that’s all that mattered, and to her surprise the feelings that welled were the same that she felt when she played guitar before. It didn’t matter if Moca knew, or whether she loved Sayo back. There was this wonderful sound, and this wonderful girl, and Sayo was just glad to be able to be close with both.

It was dark outside once the audience was let out from the movie. Night gave way to another day, and with it another so-called date, and then another, and even more still. And throughout all of this, Sayo had meanwhile experienced all there was to experience in the city. With Moca, of course.

Peppered in between their outings, they continued playing guitar, as always, and the spark was ever present when they jammed. But the song, unfinished, unwritten, remained in the back of Sayo’s mind, and she wouldn’t know what to do with it. She hadn’t even spoken with anyone from Roselia the entire time. She’d been dodgy and avoided contact, leaving the group chat completely unread and skipping practice. She promised herself she’d figure it out, especially with Moca’s help.

One week turned into two, and it was finally Saturday once again, and the two of them were enjoying each other’s company and discussing music at Hazawa Coffee. Had it really been two weeks since the meeting with Roselia? Had they really not practiced together in the time since? She definitely had been off practicing by herself and with Moca, but the more the thoughts swirled around Sayo’s mind, the more she brushed them off so she could playfully chide Moca for teasing Tsugumi while she worked.

“The both of you are getting pretty close, huh?” Tsugumi commented, point blank.

Sayo was flustered, inwardly at least. Trying to keep her composure in front of both of them, she cleared her throat.

“Naturally. We’ve been practicing a lot, and neither of us want to concede an inch to each other. It’s been a very productive relationship.”

The moment Sayo let the word slip from her tongue, she was wrought with the creeping uncertainty that she felt before. What kind of relationship was this exactly? What did Moca think? Her conversations were easy to navigate but she herself was impossible to read.

“I can only imagine.” Tsugumi admitted. “Moca has sounded amazing lately during practice, and that could only be the reason.”

Moca chuckled. “Indeed~, please praise me more Tsugu-chin~.”

Tsugumi rolled her eyes playfully. “Even Ran-chan was surprised. She’s more convinced than ever that Afterglow will surpass Roselia at the joint live. Is she even aware of the two of you practicing together, Moca-chan?”

“Who knows~. Everyone wants a piece of the ultra-genius Moca-chan-sensei~.”

Even Sayo had to scoff at that one. “Don’t listen to her, Tsugumi. I look forward to having a good concert with you. Of course I won’t back down.”

“Can we be so sure of that?”

A familiar, sharp voice sounded out to the three of them. Sayo turned around. Yukina stood in front of them, arms crossed, equal parts cold and furious.

“Minato-san!” Sayo blurted out. “I-I was actually about to-”

“It’s one thing to avoid your bandmates for an entire week. It’s another to go off and being a distraction for someone in a rival band.”

Sayo could feel equal parts anger and guilt welling up in her stomach. Yukina was assuming the worst and disrespecting the other band, but at the same time, the song was unfinished. It was her responsibility. Her and Moca’s.

“Minato-san.” She conceded. “I take full responsibility.”

Moca sat back, unsure what to make of the situation. She kept silent throughout. It was better this way, Sayo thought.

“Very well. I’m utterly disappointed that you didn’t take this seriously at all.”

She took out a score from her bag and dropped it on the cafe table.

“I expected better from you, to be honest. Be sure to have your part ready for our next practice on Monday.”

Yukina turned to Moca, who sat there saying nothing the entire time.

“Aoba-san. You may be a musical genius, but Sayo will still best you no matter what. At least, that’s what I hope this time around.”

Sayo flipped through the score. It had all the parts and everything laid out. It was impeccably Roselia, from the piano line all the way to Yukina’s trademark lyrics, which were written completely from scratch.

But her guitar part. Her lines were like nothing she’s ever played before in Roselia. This was a huge departure from her existing skill level, admittedly.

“M-Minato san! You can’t expect me to be able to play this by Monday?”

Yukina sighed. “Maybe if you had come to practice instead of going out on dates with your  _ girlfriend _ , you would have been adequately prepared.”

Sayo’s jaw dropped. She jerked her head back and forth between Yukina’s stern look and Moca’s… pouting face?

“Yukina-san~,” Moca said with her faux-exasperation, “you’re embarrassing my Sayo-chin~.”

Embarrassing, indeed. Sayo could feel her lungs deflate inside chest and her breathing grew faster and faster as a result. When she felt herself reach a tipping point, she immediately got up and excused herself from the scene she had caused, with Yukina’s score tightly gripped in hand.

<>

Sayo shut herself in her room for the entire day as she practiced right from the score. Normally she’d be able to hear the notes leap out from the page, but for whatever reason, they just wouldn’t sound out in her mind. Her hands were heavy, and her back was slouched. There was no way she could learn by Monday.

“Onee-chan, is everything okay?”

“Go away!”

“Please, onee-chan…”

“Hina, please leave me alone.”

“...”

Once she could ascertain that she could no longer hear Hina’s voice, Sayo resumed her fruitless practice. The more she struggled, the more she could feel the absence of the spark that had grown in her in the weeks since. Frustrated, she threw a pillow at her practice amp, and it tipped over and fell. Sayo threw herself upon her bed and cried until she passed out minutes later from exhaustion.

<>

Sayo wasn’t sure what day it was. It felt like she had kept herself in her room, her only sanctuary, for ages. The lights were off, and she barely said a word or even touched her guitar since she had given up. If it weren’t for the fact that hunger had gotten the best of her, she wouldn’t have come out at all.

She lumbered into the hallway, lights out, and managed to make it to the kitchen despite how dark the house was with all the lights off. Maybe it was still Saturday night. Maybe there was still time to prepare, if she had any ounce of motivation to try at all.

She scavenged for any leftovers she could find in the fridge. Where was the girl that she saw at Future World Fest? Where did she go? If Moca was here, she’d say that she wasn’t being very  _ Sayoriffic _ at all.

Sayo missed Moca terribly. She didn’t pay attention to her phone, but she couldn’t fathom the thought of Moca knowing her feelings without saying anything in return. Not that she blamed her. It was Yukina’s fault for not letting Moca get a word in edgewise.

And yet, would Moca have said anything remotely profounding given the chance? Sayo knew in her heart of hearts she would have said something incredibly silly and Mocatastic like…

_ You’re embarrassing my Sayo-chin _ .

Damn that Moca! She was acting completely casual about it, as if she had already known! Sayo’s head spun, even as she found her dinner in a tinfoil-wrapped plate with her name on it. There was also something written on it with dark marker.

_ Onee-chan, here’s your dinner. I can’t wait to see you onstage next weekend! - Hina _

Sayo felt the waterworks begin to let out, and she reflexively fought off the sniffles that were already running down from her nose. She made a mess of everything by skirting practice with the band. But it wasn’t like she was neglecting her goal, she was clearly getting so much better at guitar!

If only she could recapture that feeling in time for practice.

“Onee-chan, you’re finally up.”

Sayo jolted, startled at Hina appearing behind her from out of nowhere.

“Hina, please. You almost scared me to death.”

“Hehe~ sorry. I was just worried about you. Mom and dad were, too. I had to explain things to them.”

“I appreciate you taking care of that, but what do you mean?”

“Well, I can’t really tell them that you’re in love with Moca-chan, so I had to tell them that you had a fight with Yukina.”

Sayo’s eyes stopped welling up, if only for a moment. “Wait. How did you know?”

“You’re my twin sister. I just  _ know _ .”

That much was obvious, but it was still enough to make Sayo sigh. “Now what? I’m not going to be ready with this piece for Monday. Maybe I should just…”

Her mind raced ahead of her and before she could even fathom quitting the band, she looked back at Hina, whose now-sullen face was still barely illuminated by the glow of the fridge light and nothing else. Sayo hugged her.

“Hina. I haven’t forgotten our promise.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

The two of them held each other in their sisterly embrace, even as the coolness from the fridge got them both to shiver in unison. Sayo shut the door before turning the kitchen light on proper.

“Say, Hina. How about we go fulfill that promise sooner rather than later?”

<>

It was an unfathomable number of hours past midnight, and the Hikawa sisters, still clad in their pyjamas, sat around outside at a nearby park huddled under a streetlight with their guitars out and Yukina’s score sprawled out, crumpled on the ground.

“From the top, Hina?”

Hina nodded. And they began. First it was slow, awkward, as one would expect trying to sight-read under less than stellar lighting conditions. As expected, Hina managed the phrases somehow, but even though Sayo had eventually willed herself to keep up, even barely, the two of them came to a strong conclusion by the time they reached the end of the song together.

“It’s not very good, isn’t it?” Hina said.

“It’s not.” Sayo agreed. “I’m not even sure why. On paper, it seems like something that Roselia would play, but this…”

“...this isn’t very boppin’ at all!”

The two girls looked at each other and then broke into a fit of laughter together.

“It really isn’t!”

Even as the two of them tried out different variations of the phrases written, something just didn’t click no matter how much they tried to fix it.

“This is a troubling development, Hina. If Roselia plays this at the joint live, they’ll be the laughing stock of girl bands everywhere.”

And the worst part of it all was the admission that, even if Sayo somehow had joined in all of the practices in the weeks leading up to the concert instead of hanging out with Moca, she might have thought that the arrangement was also acceptable. Maybe it was for the best that things turned out this way. Maybe there was still a chance to fix all of it.

“Hina, I’m sorry that this was how we ended up playing together. This really isn’t to your standards as a guitarist.”

“Onee-chan, you dummy! I’m just happy enough to be able to play with you.”

Hina stuck her tongue out at her sister.

“But now that you mention it,” she continued, “I would rather play with you when you’re at your best, and with a much better song.”

“Yeah. Maybe one day we can jam together like when I-”

It suddenly struck her. Sayo remembered all of those practice sessions with Moca, and she could recall all of the different ideas that they tried out for fun. Somewhere in all of that, she knew that there was something incredible that could be distilled into something  _ boppin’ _ .

“Hina. I’m going to need your help again.”

She got hit by a Hina-sized hug. “That’s what sisters are for!”

<>

The twins were tired. They had barely gotten enough sleep to get by the Sunday after, but the two of them hunkered down in a practice room at CirCLE, and Sayo went to work.

She warmed up a bit like usual, but immediately honed in on her heart of hearts and opened up to herself. About everything. About how she felt about Moca, about how scared she was to lose sight of who she was as a guitarist and her role within Roselia, about where she was in relation to her sister’s own skill. About everything. She put it all into her hands and she played.

And Hina, lying comfortably on her stomach with numerous sheets of score paper, scribbled down notes as fast as she could, keeping up with everything that Sayo was coming up with.

It stretched everything that made Sayo, Sayo. It was a different type of challenge from the original phrases that Yukina wrote for their new song. All she could do was hope that this was enough to make up for her flighty ways. It was her everything, all of her emotions, all compressed into signals poppin from an amplifier.

As she played, she noticed Hina was keeping up brilliantly. It wasn’t at the same pace as her playing, but as expected of someone with her unrivaled genius, she was able to remember everything. Good. Even if it was too much to ask, there was no doubt that Hina would pull through for her sister. Knowing that she was there, and that she was always there, it was a big regret in Sayo’s life, that she should have just been more like this instead of all the angst she had brought upon the both of them.

Sayo loved her sister. Sayo loved playing guitar. Sayo loved Moca Aoba. The three loves in her life, and she had it all. And all of those feelings came to a close as the final chord rang out.

Silence shortly followed, and all that was left was the frantic scribbling of pen on paper as Hina went to work. Sayo waited patiently. It was the best she could do, despite the silence still wracking her to her limits. Hopefully all of this worked.

“Done!” Hina said, joyously, handing over the score to Sayo. The two of them looked over the arrangement, bar by bar. Exquisite.

“Hina, I can’t believe you got every note.”

“It was easy! It was also very onee-chan, too!” Hina smiled.

Sayo responded in kind as she poured through each section. Was this really her? Was this the Sayo that she imagined herself being when she’d finally get the chance to stand on stage at Future World Fest?

“Thank you,” she finally said, reaching the end. “Thank you for everything.”

“Glad I could help,” Hina said, “but aren’t you missing something?”

Sayo tilted her head. “What could I be missing?”

“The second guitar part, of course!”

<>

It was an unlikely scene, somewhat crowded in the practice room. Pairs of musicians from Roselia and Afterglow respectively grouped by instrument practiced alongside each other, with photocopies of Hina’s transcription and Sayo’s full instrument additions in tow.

There was Hina, as well, who sat excitedly in the corner. Perhaps it was the first time she had bore witness to a Roselia practice, but to her utter exuberance, Afterglow was there too. It was the easiest favor she could ask for after transcribing for her sister, and with all the chaos that was already happening with two bands practicing at once, it was easy for Sayo to accept.

It took some time and explaining, but Sayo was glad to muster the courage to message the members of Afterglow, begging them to join Roselia for practice, despite having just finished the full arrangement of the song the Sunday prior. Once she had been able to show the fruits of her labour to both bands, she had everyone convinced, particularly Yukina.

“I can’t believe you’d go this far just to undermine my decision, Sayo.”

“I can’t believe you’d write such a mediocre song, Yukina.”

The two of them giggled like childhood friends at the playground.

“I must admit,” Yukina sighed, “when you played the guitar part for me, it didn’t meet the standards that we were accustomed to as members of Roselia.”

Yukina nodded at the other members of the two bands as they went about their work.

“But this, Sayo. This isn’t just Roselia’s music. It’s Roselia and Afterglow together. I didn’t think it would ever happen.”

Sayo frowned. “I know you said you wanted to push the limits of what Roselia could be as a band, but I think this is the logical next step in the rivalry between both us and Afterglow, don’t you agree?”

Yukina observed Ako and Tomoe duelling off on the drums and laughing about it afterwards. “I guess so.”

“I do have to ask, Minato-san.”

“Sure, Sayo.”

“The arrangement you made, it was bad on purpose, wasn't it?”

Yukina smirked. “This time, I can’t say. Consider this your punishment for skipping practice for two weeks.”

With that parting shot, Yukina walked away to join with Ran, who was singing alongside Lisa and Himari.

Sayo couldn’t help but amusingly sigh at the fact that she got what she deserved. In her mind, one issue remained. It was one that she’d have to wait until the concert to address.

<>

“Oh~? You’re asking if the Genius Detective Moca-chan-sensei is in love with Sayo-chin~?”

“Yes. I know I’m being unreasonable asking you minutes before we have to go up on stage, but I need to know!”

They were both fully dressed in their respective band outfits. Moca shook her head sarcastically. “Maybe you’re trying to sabotage my performance moments before I have to go on stage~. Gasp! Perhaps you’re a spy from Roselia~?”

Sayo shook Moca by the shoulders and then stopped to rest her forehead on top of hers. “No, I’m not.”

Shoulders slouched, Moca just stood there grinning like a buffoon to Sayo’s face. “Then my detective powers weren’t as good as I thought~.”

“Could you stand to be serious just this once?”

Moca pouted. “Well, if Sayo-chin has to ask~.”

She took Sayo by the shoulders and nudged her away to an unbearable distance between them as she put her lugged her guitar strap over her shoulder.

“Come watch my performance~. I’ll be able to answer you then~.”

Sayo could only watch helplessly from offstage as the gremlin that she oh so loved scuttled over to join her band. Afterglow was a phenomenal group, she thought to herself. She never got a chance to watch them up close like this before, but it was also the first time that there was a little bit of bias in her opinion of them.

She sighed at herself for being so helplessly imbecilic herself. She watched in awe and love as she got the answer that she was looking for. It was enough to hype herself up her own performance with Roselia, and of course, the guitar duet she was about to have with her most beloved.

During Roselia’s performance, Sayo absolutely nailed it. Same as always.

<>

Sayo held onto the guitar case slinged over her back as she stared aimlessly at the parking lot. It became a bit of a ritual for Sayo to hang around the convenience store with Lisa in the period before her shift began and Moca’s ended. Often, the two would have shifts together, but in cases when Sayo would have to wait, she was at least happy to hang out with her precious bassist and friend during those times she’d show up early.

They both leaned against the wall outside the store, watching customers walk in and out through the automatic sliding door. That, alongside the afternoon traffic, left a warm ambient sound that the two of them grew fond of over the two weeks since the joint live.

“Gosh~,” Lisa retorted in her playful voice, “I still can’t believe things worked out the way it did.”

“You’re still going on about that? The show was a success either way, Imai-san. I’m glad you were able to carry out practice in my absence though, and for that I’m truly sorry.”

“I know it was, and of course I forgive you! I’m talking about with Moca~.”

“What more needs to be said? Things happened, and then everything ran their course.”

Lisa couldn’t help but shake her head at Sayo for being so dense.

“That’s not what I’m talking about either! I can’t believe I had to endure Moca’s complaining for three whole weeks!”

Sayo’s eyes widened. “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“You two are genuine dummies when it comes to love, you know that?”

A car whizzed by as Sayo let the realization sink in.

“Wait, you knew that she liked me for those weeks leading up to the concert?”

Lisa rolled up her fashion magazine and lightly bopped Sayo in the head.

“Argh~” Lisa growled. “She’s been going on about how cool you were ever since the end of our  _ first _ joint live! It was all she’d talk about after the fact, and even more so after the time you two practiced together afterwards.”

“How come she didn’t say anything to me then?”

“She didn’t even know herself, to be honest. She’d talk nonstop about you, but it was so obvious and yet she didn’t even pick up on it, fufu~”

Sayo frowned. “But you knew, right? And you didn’t tell me?”

“You know full well that I wouldn’t just tell you~. That’s not my style anymore. You two had to figure that out for yourselves. That’s why I kept pestering Yukina about having another joint concert~”

The door slid open. Moca’s greeting could be audible heard from the outside. She was almost done, Sayo wagered. About 4-5 minutes or so.

“Anyways, at least that’s all over with. If anything, I guess I’ll have to keep hearing about you from Moca going forward.”

The way Lisa said it, Sayo couldn’t help but ask. “What does she say about me?”

Lisa winked. “You’ll have to ask her in a minute~ See ya, Sayo.”

She disappeared into the store, leaving Sayo to wait in silence for a few moments. It felt like forever, albeit not the same kind of forever that she had felt when she holed up in her room the week before the joint live. It was the good kind of forever.

The door slid open again, and out came the weirdo that made Sayo smile the moment she saw her.

“Ohoho~, were you waiting for me~?”

“Indeed. I hope you had a productive shift at work.”

She nodded, as Sayo held her by the shoulders. Moca leaned in with a lazy but excited anticipation.

“Does kissing you always have to come with that weird face that you have to force?”

“That’s not important~,” Moca teased, her eyes closed, “what’s important is that you kiss me~.”

Sayo sighed, amused, and let go of her shoulders. “Let’s go, princess. Yamabuki Bakery will close if we’re not fast enough.”

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world~.” Moca responded, as they walked hand in hand out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk.

“At least the fast food place is open later hours.”

“So mean~”

“I’m just telling the truth. Why don’t we go there instead?”

“Oh, now I get your plan~, you’re trying to make Moca-chan-sensei late so we’d order fries instead~.”

Sayo suddenly stopped and buried her lips in Moca’s.

“Yes.” Sayo said afterwards. “That was  _ exactly  _ my plan.”

Moca, her cheeks flushed and her hand in Sayo’s, shook off her girlfriend’s surprise assault. “Okay, you win~. I now bestow you the title of Genius Detective Sayo-chin.”

Sayo pecked Moca on the forehead. “Aren’t you forgetting the -sensei?”

“You’ll have to fight me for it~. In an epic guitar battle~!”

The two of them smiled at each other and continued down the road. At the pace they were walking together, it was doubtful whether they would even make it to the fast food place, let alone Yamabuki Bakery. With the way they looked into each other’s eyes as they talked, neither seemed to mind if that were the case. They had a score to settle at CiRCLE’s practice studio, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god I love these two so much! The pairing just came into my head one day, and I just HAD to write it, NaNoWriMo be damned. I could have kept going and make it into something like a multi-chap fic, but the time period of 3 weeks leading up to the concert lent well to a oneshot. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> twitter: @curekrizzly


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